Rick Perry – Reaching for the stars. The astrology of the Texas Governor turned Presidential hopeful.

The expected news came just before the weekend. Rick Perry has had ambitions to be President of the United States but until last week he had been keeping his gunpowder dry. Just before the Iowa straw poll, news came through that the Texas governor was entering the race to emulate his predecessor, one George W Bush. Is America keen for another gunslinger in the White House? I try to asses wether the Lone Star governor has got what it takes astrologically to make it all the way to the top.

Rick Perry was born on 4th March 1950 10 miles outside of Paint Creek, Texas at 10.40am. This time is not absolutely confirmed, but it comes from a Texas Astrologer, so the source seems like a good one

Ok What do we know about him?

Born in a rural cotton farm community where he lived and worked on the land with his family. Apparently it was a tough upbringing and on the cusp of the 4th house we find Virgo and also here is Pluto. Pluto infers the notion of being trapped or controlled. I can imagine that Rick’s home life would not have been a happy one.

As a boy we know he was an Eagle scout. In the 11th house we find the Piscean Sun, he will be a leader in groups and associations and social activities. Ricks friends will be a source of inspiration to him.

At school he studied animal science where he received a bachelors degree. On the Midheaven we find scientific Aquarius and in the house everyday routine and domesticated animals we find Neptune, conferring a real love for looking after them.

We know that Rick was trained to be a pilot and flew military jets while serving in the US Air Force in the Middle East and in Europe until 1977, he also very nearly became a commercial pilot. Mars is the planet signifying the military, and Mars in May 1950 was in social Libra, he was a military pilot turned social one. Mars sits in the 5th house of sports and physical activity and makes a trine to the Aquarian Midheaven conferring him with great technical skill in flying. Venus in the 9th brings fascination in travel and I am sure the chance to go abroad was one of the factors he used in choosing to go into the forces.

We know that Rick is an evangelical Christian. Jupiter is in Aquarius in the 10th house so Rick makes his faith an integral part of his public role. The Sun is in spiritual Pisces and his very conservative religious views are shown by stern Saturn sitting on the cusp of the 9th house.

We are now getting somewhere. Mr Perry’s appearance is always very clean cut, neat and sharp. Even at 61 years of age he looks like someone in their late 40’s which indicates someone who looks after themselves and their appearance, possibly a bit of vanity perhaps? Taurus ruled by Venus sits on the Midheaven showing that streak within him with Mars and Neptune now in the 9th. I understand Rick is a larger than life character and consistent with idea Jupiter is in square aspect to the Ascendant. This aspect reinforces the faith aspect tot his personality and gives him a bit of a lucky streak. 

Finally, here as they say in America “is the kicker”. Rick was encouraged to run for the presidency by his wife. Why did she have to persuade Rick to enter the race? It is because Rick lives under her thumb. Scorpio ruled by Pluto sits on the cusp of Rick’s 7th house. She controls (Pluto & Scorpio) him!! As I will show, her decision affected the race for the Republican nomination.

Right to the chart. Rick has a Sun in dreamy Pisces, the Moon in critical, conservative Virgo conjunct to Saturn, a Taurean Ascendant and a stubborn and erratic Aquarian Midheaven.

The Taurus Ascendant and Aquarius Midheaven give us a man who is a social organiser and a builder of his own little empire, it is in his nature. This is someone who has a very hard line and a severe public face. Rick is in favour of the death penalty, gun ownership, anti global warming and he wanted to go ahead with a $10 billion building programme of coal burning power stations, plans which were drastically reduced under the potential opposition of environmental litigation. All these issues, death, firearms, big business & heavy industry have been very controversial in nature, something that will follow him throughout his work life, he is a very divisive figure.

The basis of this chart are a couple of powerful oppositions. We have the Piscean Sun, dreamy and elusive in a tight opposition to the Moon and Saturn which is retrograde in the 5th house. A lot here to discuss. This opposition is across the 5th and 11th houses, the house of giving and receiving love. With Saturn in the 5th, this is a very reserved man emotionally. The Saturn/Moon combination tells me that Rick had a strict, hard working upbringing. Saturn and Moon together indicate a mother who was tough and critical on her son. Saturn retrograde shows that love was not forthcoming from his father either. Perhaps he was away a lot (unlikely as this was a family farm), or more likely he too was severe or maybe just cold on Rick as he was growing up. With the opposition to the 11th house Sun, I can assume that Rick’s self worth was severely dented as a child. The proof can be seen as Uranus in the 2nd house is exactly square to the Nodal Axis (otherwise known as the maternal axis). Here is a very cold and unpredictable relationship with his mother. The Moon in Virgo opposite the Sun in Pisces is a very sensitive, even shy combination, prone to being hurt and very self critical. In his soul, Perry sometimes lacks motivation, sometimes he needs to be given a kick up the backside to force him into action. It also makes one over-react, to do too much to overcome one’s weaknesses. The Moon in the 5th shows such an over-reaction. Rick’s will dramatize all his reactions, they will be severely over the top.

Being belittled as a youngster I believe forced Rick into action to join the forces, just to prove to his parents that he was worthy. It is telling that he held back in putting himself forward to join the race, almost as if that self-doubt in his chart was holding him back. It took his wife to push him forward to join the race. I believe that his charismatic nature we know is a front, a smokescreen (a very Piscean analogy) hiding a much more timid and deceptive personality out of the public gaze. That charisma comes from the other opposition on this chart. Jupiter and Mercury in Aquarius opposite to Pluto, forming a wedge with Neptune at the point. Jupiter and Mercury also make a trine to Uranus. This conjunction has great vision, big plans and Perry will be an electrifying, powerful speaker. Jupiter provides the scope, Pluto in opposition the depth, Neptune the grace and a poetic tone and Uranus in trine aspect allows sparks to fly. One thing to notice. This combination is great in rhetoric, but where is the detail behind it? Grand conservative social plans yes (Aquarius, Libra, Cancer) in a rather self-centred way (Pluto in regal Leo). There are no earth planets in this combination giving a grounding to the message. Uranus sitting in the 2nd house of finance rives Rick a rather reckless attitude to money in general. Is this exactly what The US needs in times of austerity? His record in Texas on the face of it does seem impressive, but drill below the surface and the picture is not so clear. The BBC says that Texas although the budget has been balanced still owes a lot of money in unpaid debts, the jobs that have been made are only low paid ones, probably taken up by immigrants and the standard of education has dropped through the floor in the state. Sounds remarkably like the situation in Britain, and see where that has lead us in the last couple of weeks!! Will all this be enough, and will the American system really focus in on what he actually has achieved?

The Sun and Moon opposition also contributes two more things to this chart. Firstly, Perry’s character and his emotions will work at cross purposes, so he will send out mixed messages, causing confusion in personal relationships. Secondly, the most obvious aspects often are overlooked on a chart as people are looking too deeply. We have Sun opposite Moon (conjunct to Saturn), a man versus a woman; a very powerful authoritarian (Saturn) one as well. One of Perry’s challenges will be to fight and defeat Michele Bachmann, who may take enough of the religious right and tea party support away from him, to let Mitt Romney who seems more moderate in his views take the centre ground. Finally before I move to look at current planetary movements, one last connection. Uranus sits square to the nodal axis. This indicates someone who generally is out of step with public opinion. When challenged why their views are so different, they tend to get irritated, insensitive or rebellious. Perry will have to hold his tongue in the Republican debates when his motives and especially his religious opinions are questioned.

I move to the transits and looking at what happened astrologically as Perry entered the race. Last week as Perry mulled over entering the fray, the transiting Sun and Venus were conjunct to Perry’s Pluto just before his announcement on Saturday 13th. A minor connection, but a significant one. With Scorpio on the cusp of the 7th as I suggest, the push from a female influence (Venus) on Perry’s Pluto persuaded him to enter the race. I think she fancies 4 years in the White House? As he spoke, the Sun was exactly quindecile to his natal Venus again highlighting the female influence on him. Transiting Jupiter was square the Aquarian Midheaven, Sun opposite his 10th house Jupiter and the transiting Moon conjunct it. Mars, highlighting communication in Perry’s chart (Aries on 3rd house cusp) was square to the nodal axis, putting his actions squarely in the public eye (sorry about the pun). The transiting Moon was also opposite to natal Pluto again highlighting his wife’s influence (Cancer on cusp of 7th) and his Scorpio Midheaven ambitions. 

How are things going to pan out. Well transiting Saturn is going to contact Rick’s natal Neptune in the middle of September which will be a debilitating influence. Natal Saturn sits in the 5th house and Neptune in the 6th, is this a risk he has taken that will suddenly go wrong, the 5th house is the house of affairs? The 9th & 11th houses are involved too, so does this situation have international connections with friends or groups? We shall see next month.  I believe this will be a critical time for him. In December 2011, Perry starts to pick up a transit that will last for him from that time through until the Presidential election itself. Transiting Pluto will square to Rick’s natal Mars and also square his Nodal Axis. Pluto is operating out of it’s own 8th house of change and transformation, Mars is in Rick’s 5th house of affairs, creativity and speculation and rules the 12th house of sacrifice and service. Pluto rules the 7th house of relationships, dealing with others and of open enemies. This square to the Nodes harks back to events in April 2011, when Pluto stationed exactly on Perry’s node before turning retrograde. This square is very destructive and accurately describes the wildfires which were affecting Texas at the time. Looking back, Perry was considered crazy by some at the time as he officially asked for spiritual help for Texas by declaring a 3 day period of prayer for rain as a cure for the disaster affecting his state. The divine intervention never came as the sun continued to beat down. Watch to see if Perry’s opponents jump on this weakness for using God as a panacea for all the ills and disappointments going on in America.

Looking at election day 6th November 2012 if Rick makes it that far, we have a mixed bag of transits for him. On the plus side, we have a nice sextile between transiting Jupiter and natal Pluto and a trine between Jupiter and Neptune. Jupiter will also square the Sun, Moon and Saturn opposition. I feel the effect of over-confidence on this aspect, and in the process he will get a hit to the self-worth profile. Transiting Neptune will be square to his Taurus Ascendant on election day, not a very happy one and dissolving any dreams he will have. Neptune transiting the 10th house of work is also not an auspicious platform for launching a Presidential campaign. This will be a time when Rick will be unsure of his direction in life, and any deceit that he has been party to will come out, or then again may be deceived himself. Transiting Saturn also will be square natal Venus, this will be an emotionally depressing time.

Having now got a definitive birth time, I am still not convinced by Rick Perry. As an outsider and somebody who is looking at this from a neutral perspective, I do feel that there does seem something false about his chart. A lot of bravado & charisma yes, but not so much substance. I also think he tends to hide behind his religious views too much. The other lingering doubt remaining with me is this. If he was so confident of winning, why didn’t he enter the race earlier, and why did his wife have to push him so much to get him to run? Something tells me he is hiding something. The less time you are under scrutiny, the less time there is to dig the dirt on him. As the competition heats up over the coming months, the planets will find out the truth.

**** Update 10th Nov 11 ****

I sort of knew it would happen somewhere along the line. During a live CBS debate, Rick Perry last night made a huge gaff when trying to remember all three government agencies he would cut if he became President. He remembered two, Commerce and Education but then he stumbled, and even asked his rivals if they could help. Fully 15 minutes later, he finally came up with the answer, the Energy agency. Fifteen minutes too late and his Presidential campaign seems to be falling apart. This happens as the transiting Nodes now are starting to square his Sun opposition to Moon/Saturn, Uranus was almost exactly square (0.04 degrees) to it’s own position and disorientating Neptune was approaching an exact square to his ascendant. I think we can now fully discount his chances (at least this time around) for him having any chance of becoming President in 2012.